Repercussions of working late
by Dyslexic CSI
Summary: A bad week for Kate and an even worse day for Gibbs. Can they make the most of it and change their luck  Kate/Gibbs


Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot or sometimes lack of

A:N A triyng week for Kate and an extremely bad day for Gibbs. Can they change their luck and make it better.

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Repercussions of Working Overtime

The guilty feeing in his gut only increased. He was not one to feel guilty, but this time he could not help it. Even though she had walked away from her desk while speaking on her phone, he still managed to hear the whole conversation - every last syllable.

When she returned to her desk after the phone call he could see her mood was no longer as happy as before. She sniffed and he immediately looked up. Her eyes were tinged red and there was a rogue tear waiting to fall from her eye. He knew she was trying with immense difficulty, not to let it fall.

Gibbs had kept them late again for a case, as there were reports to be typed, people to be interrogated and evidence to be tested. Too much to do in way too little time. Her date had called to ask if she was still available but she had to work. She stood him up again… for the third time that week. It was now the weekend and she was going to spend Friday night alone.

He walked up to her desk and stretched out his hand in her direction. She looked up at him questioningly and saw the fiery spark in his deep blue eyes. She placed her hand in his, just to humour him. He smiled as he felt her hand slip into his, and he led her to the huge window at the end of the passage.

"Pick a place and that's where you'll be tomorrow evening!" he whispered in her ear. She turned around to look at him, spinning too quickly and felt a little dizzy. "you're joking right?" "Nope!" "Hey boss can I expense that?" Tony came up behind them wondering what was going on, with McGee following close behind.

Even though Gibbs had whispered the bullpen was quiet enough for the other two agents to hear. "No Tony" Gibbs growled, "and I do not remember giving you permission to stop working yet!" he gave Tony his famous Gibbs glare which made the younger man crawl back to his desk and continue with his work.

McGee did not wait for Gibbs to start with him, and walked to his desk once again starting his search the suspect's bank statements. Muttering to himself, Tony noticed that Gibbs still had Kate's hand in his, and by the look of it he had no intention of letting it go anytime soon.

Beckoning McGee to his desk he said "Probie I think Gibbs has a thing for Kate." "Oh for once in your life be serious Tony!" McGee was astounded at Tony's somewhat enlightening discovery. "Look he's still got Kate's hand in his, I have never seen him hold anyone's hand before, not even Abby's" Tony declared to McGee.

'Come on let's get back to work so you'll be free tomorrow evening to go to the place you chose" he smiled at her and walked back toward their respective desks with a less guilty feeling now. They carried on with their respective tasks only finally noticing the time when there was an influx of agents coming into the building for the start of a new day.

The results of the tests Gibbs had Abby run for him were on his desk and now all that needed to be done was arrest the perp who thought he was still invincible. It was a task that would not take up too much of their time and since they had worked all night Gibbs decided there was no point in asking one of the other teams to go and apprehend the culprit.

A few long hours later the suspect was finally caught and safely tucked in with a white sheet covering him on one of Ducky's tables. He had resisted co-operating with the law enforcers and had randomly fired shots at the team in the hope they would give up trying to arrest him as had been the case before with other law enforcers.

Kate had been on the receiving end of three of the bullets, with two getting caught in her bulletproof vest and the other just grazing her hip. Gibbs had recoiled in fear that Kate had been fatally wounded and it just fuelled his want to nail the dirtbag even more than before. There was no way he was going to let anybody hurt one of his agents and get away with it and it had resulted in the perp landing up on Ducky's table.

Without waiting to check if the dirtbag was dead, Gibbs immediately made his way to where Kate was laying on the ground, her eyes closed from the burning sensation that was the result of being shot. "Kate?" there was no response so he tried again. "Kate?" he called her hoping that she could still hear him. There was a pool of blood where she was on the ground and another fear rose in his head. She might bleed to death if he did not do anything soon.

Scanning her body for any entry or exit bullet wounds and finding none, he gathered her up in his arms and raced back to headquarters and directly to the medical examiner and his long time friend. "Ducky" he called out panicked that the doctor was not there for some unknown reason. "Ducky" he shouted a bit louder and gave a sigh of relief as he heard footsteps making their way closer to where he was standing with Kate still in his arms.

"Jethro!" the medical examiner exclaimed without looking up. "I thought you were out apprehending a suspect. How did you get here so quickly?" Ducky had started questioning Gibbs and Gibbs knew that time was of the essence here. "Duck!" he said tiredly making the doctor finally look up at him.

"Oh my what do we have here?" the doctor was genuinely concerned when he saw the pallid faces of his friend and the female agent Gibbs held in his arms so close to his chest looking like he was not about to let her go. "She got shot, I think it just grazed her hip but I'd like you to take a look at it."

Gibbs placed her on the table and started walking toward the door to go back up to the bullpen when he heard her "Gibbs stay please," her voice was soft and filled with pain. She let Ducky examine the wound and bit back the urge to cry when she felt the stinging reaction of the antiseptic being used to clean and bandage her wound. She grabbed Gibbs's hand and squeezed it as the pain in her side intensified making her wince a little.

When she was all bandaged and patched up and Ducky was satisfied with her vitals he let go of her hand and allowed her to return to the bullpen to continue on the final report that she had to hand in. Gibbs stayed behind to have a word with his friend. "She'll alright Duck?" he half asked half pleaded with the doctor. "She's not as weak as we'd like to believe Jethro… she's a fighter, she'll be fine" Ducky reassured his friend.

When he returned to the bullpen he saw DiNozzo, McGee and Abby were crowded around Kate's desk and asking to see her scar. "Guys I just got shot at, you people should be asking me how I'm feeling and not badgering me about my scar," she said exasperatedly, but smiling all the same. She was lucky to be alive and that was the only thing that mattered, besides it could have been much worse had she not been wearing a flack vest.

Gibbs walked on to his desk, not even stopping to see the wound that the other three were gawking at. He had seen it quite up close and personal on the autopsy table and he had cussed mentally when he felt the intensity that Kate had squeezed his hand with, when Ducky cleaned and bandaged the graze. He knew she was in pain and he felt responsible for it.

"Hey guys I think we've done more than our share working in this case, let's call it a day," Gibbs said as he reached his desk. He glanced over at Kate and she presented him with a half smile, which he returned. "Well then I guess my plans for dinner tonight are cancelled," he said to himself not aware the other four had heard him.

Tony gave McGee a knowing look and Abby sighed knowing Gibbs would use the excuse of Kate needing rest after her 'ordeal' to avoid being near her. Tony and McGee had informed her of what had happened last night with Gibbs and Kate and she knew what Tony had said was true. Still she did not encourage Tony knowing he would never let Kate have moment's peace if he knew their boss secretly had the 'hots' for their female coworker.

"Hey Boss I didn't mean to overhear your monologue but if it's okay with you Probie, Abby and I are willing to take you up on that offer to go to dinner, and I'm sure Kate wouldn't mind coming either. Would you Kate?" Tony stated and questioned Kate at the same time. "That's if you're up to it" he added concernedly.

Gibbs thought about it for a while and weighed the pros and cons of the whole proposal. On the one hand it would mean spending time outside the office with the people he spent time with in the office, or he could go to an empty house, to an empty basement and work on his boat…alone. The first option seemed like a better bet, even if it meant having Tony around him for longer.

"Okay lets go, but Kate still hasn't said where she wants to eat," he said as he picked up his jacket and Styrofoam cup that was filled with a strong brown liquid. They could not believe their ears, Gibbs had just accepted to go out with them outside of working hours. The terrible trio grabbed their belongings and ran hurriedly to the elevator just in case Gibbs changed his mind.

That left him and Kate alone in the bullpen, and there was an uneasy silence, each wondering what the other was thinking. Both of them were well aware of the actions they had carried out earlier and they knew it stepped beyond the boundaries of a working relationship, way beyond being coworkers and definitely far beyond the relationship of boss and subordinate.

"Kate you up for tonight?" he asked not wanting her to exert herself just do that he could have a bit of fun, if that was what it was called. "Well I stood up my date three times this week, how would it look if I stood up my boss and besides who wants to spend Friday night alone when you don't have to?" she smiled at him and he was glad that she wanted to spend time with him and the Terrible trio as Gibbs had resorted to calling them.

The place Kate chose was on the outskirts of the busy city and Gibbs knew she chose it because he was not one who liked huge crowds and loud noise everywhere. The atmosphere was relaxed, music good and the food was excellent. It was not a place that you would tire of easily especially since it catered for different tastes.

Throughout the meal Tony and Abby cracked jokes, which were usually at McGee's expense and just caused Kate and their boss to laugh. Gibbs made sure he sat next to Kate so if anything happened to her he'd be the first to react and help her. He sat just looking at her and wondering how on earth he had gone on for so long without having her in his life.

He couldn't tear his eyes off of her and he was amazed that even after being shot she was still so happy and held no hard feelings. Well that wouldn't have helped since the perp was dead on in the morgue. Still she was unbelievable, and Gibbs assumed some of Tony's spirit and zest for life had rubbed off onto her. People were never the same after they met him; he had a way of getting under their skins.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he felt Kate's hand slip into his and grip it lightly then becoming more intense as he assumed the pain in her hip had become. Turning his face to look at her he caught sight of the blood stain on her shirt and pointed to it. No wonder she was in so much pain, her wound had started bleeding again.

"Crap" he thought to himself and stood up to get the extra supplies Ducky had given him to give to Kate just incase something like this happened. He sped to the car and returned in record time, if he was still in the marines he would have set a record. "Come on Kate lets get you cleaned up" he whispered into her ear so as to not get the rest of them worried.

She stood up shakily and followed him to the manager's office which seemed to be unoccupied for the moment. He looked around for something that would do as a makeshift bed so he could help Kate as he promised himself he would. He spied a couch in the corner and led her toward it, gesturing for her to lie down on it.

She did so and lifted her shirt making the wound fully visible and Gibbs was enraged once again as he recalled the earlier events. Tenderly he removed the soaking piece of gauze that was supposed to help the healing process and disposed of it as quickly as he could. He pressed another piece of clean gauze onto the wound apply some pressure to stop or lessen the bleeding.

He saw Kate wince a little and offered her a smile, it was all he could do in the situation. Cleaning the wound as the bleeding stopped he knew that she would be in more pain as he applied the antiseptic to make sure there was no inflammation. When he was done he covered the bruise carefully and left her there on the couch to rest for a while.

"Gibbs" she called him, knowing that he was probably blaming himself for her injury. "It's not your fault, any one of us could have gotten hit today," she started but was cut short by him. "Yeah Kate but it wasn't just any one of us, it was you" he said almost in a whisper.

"But it's over now Gibbs, forget about it, I'll be fine" she tried to reassure him but she knew he would not believe her. "And besides I've got great teammates like DiNozzo, McGee and you looking out for me, what could possibly happen to me?" she tried to lighten the air. "Come on we should get back or else Abby will get the whole emergency team of doctors here in a few minutes."

As she stood up she faltered a bit, but Gibbs was by her side in a split second and caught her before she hit the ground. "See what I mean?" she teased. They were too close to one another and again they knew this was overstepping boundary lines. Still he did not relax his grip on her keeping her in his arms and enjoying the sensation it was causing in his brain.

As if by magnetic pull his face moved closer to hers as he maintained the eye contact they had. Ever so slowly he brushed his lips on her cheek. This was not just overstepping boundaries it was crossing the line knowingly, but he did not care. He had almost lost her today and he was not going to let one more day pass without letting her know just how he felt.

His thumb traced a line from her temple to her lips and settled there tracing her bottom lip as his mouth inched toward hers. He kissed her gently, passionately, carefully, keeping each reaction of hers tucked safely in his box of memories he would access when he was working alone on his boat in his empty house. This was definitely paradise and he was in heaven. This was so much better than he ever imagined it would be.

For Kate kissing her boss was like reaching a milestone, not that she considered kissing him a milestone but hell it was something to talk about. Apart from the previous three exes she knew of no one that he had a relationship with, unless you counted the redhead who very occasionally picked him up form work, and even then it was a peck on the cheek

The kiss was cut short when the door of the office was blown open and in walked in who they assumed was the manager. He looked at them dumbfounded, as usually it was teenagers who behaved like this – making out wherever they had the chance. Gibbs uncertainly ran his hand through his hair and led Kate out of the office with a smirk firmly placed on his lips.

Leading them back to the table he covered her injured hip with his hand making sure that there was no way she would suffer another blow to it which would make it worse. "Aah and they decide to return, Geez guys I thought you were performing a serious operation in there" Abby joked.

"Anyway we need to get going, since tomorrow is another day and we have stuff to do," Abby said as she and McGee stood up. DiNozzo followed suit as he mumbled something about getting the number of blonde girl who was apparently interested in him. They left Kate and Gibbs alone once again but this time the silence was not uncomfortable.

"So Kate you ready for the next overtime shift?" he asked her, his lip curling up at the side of his mouth. "If it has the same result as this one did then yes I'm all for it." He looked baffled at her answer. She could not have enjoyed being shot and in pain.

"I mean it's not everyday that I get to spend time in my bosses arms, listening to his heartbeat that matches mine, when he thinks that I might be gravely injured or even kissing him in places like a restaurant manager's office. It's not everyday I get to see he feels the same way about me as I do about him."

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as usual please R&R

hellraiser


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